Zoomin Baby was foaled in Texas, but the precocious gray gelding does his best work in Louisiana.

Racing in the colors of owner Craig Lauger, Zoomin Baby recorded his fourth victory in five career outings with a facile tally in the $214,650 Evangeline Downs Futurity at Evangeline Downs on Dec. 20.

With John Hamilton riding for trainer Michael Taylor, Zoomin Baby dueled for the early lead with Quite Riot and jockey Manuel Garcia. The two rivals had the race to themselves as Zoomin Baby edged away late to post a 1/2-length victory, stopping the timer in :19.542 for the 400 yards. The winner earned a speed index of 102 for the sharp effort.

The Evangeline Downs Futurity was the initial stakes win for Zoomin Baby, who broke his maiden at Delta Downs in June and then annexed an allowance dash at Fair Grounds in August. The gelding qualified for the Evangeline Downs Futurity during the Nov. 28 trials as the fifth-fastest entrant by winning his heat in :20.00.

With the $107,325 winner’s share from the Futurity win, Zoomin Baby boosted his earnings to $122,625.

Bred in Texas by Jackie Sessions, Zoomin Baby is produced from the multiple graded stakes-winning and Grade 1-placed mare Royal Baby Sister. The daughter of Royal Quick Dash won eight of 25 lifetime starts and placed in nine others en route to a career bankroll of $172,983. Winner of the 2001 Cajun Kindergarten Futurity-G3 at Delta Downs and the 2002 New Mexico Derby Challenge-G3, Royal Baby Sister also finished second in the 2001 AQHA Juvenile Challenge Championship-G1 at Los Alamitos in addition to placing in three other graded stakes. While Royal Baby Sister is the dam of eight winners from 11 starters, Zoomin Baby is her first stakes winner.

Zoomin Baby’s win gave his sire, Jess Zoomin, his first stakes winner. Owned by a partnership, the eight-year-old stallion stands at Granada Farms in Wheelock, Texas. In 10 career starts, Jess Zoomin was four times Grade 1-placed and he retired with earnings of $461,126. He has two crops to race and boasts progeny earnings approaching $1 million. With 32 winners from 64 starts, Jess Zoomin is also represented by Grade 1 finalist J Bar ($191,799) and stakes-placed JZ Fast Boy ($134,605).

Futurity runner-up Quite Riot (Swingin Jess-Dashs Co Ed) had to settle for second in a solid effort for owner Luis Gutierrez-Perry and conditioner Rodolfo Sanchez. The Louisiana-bred sorrel colt was seeking his third consecutive victory after dominating his trial heat by 1 3/4-lengths.

Jess Cutnup Quick (Jess Louisiana Blue-Call Me Quik Love) chased the top two across the line to finish third under Julian Cantu for owner Erick Montes and trainer Barbara Alcantara. The Louisiana-bred gelding is still in search of his initial win after five starts.

Cartels Fortune’s sophomore campaign has been a very good one. Rodney Verret’s filly flourished as a 3 year old and capped an undefeated run through 2014 with her 1st-ever stakes win, prevailing in a photo finish to take the honors in the $126,225 Evangeline Downs Derby.

Cartels Fortune went undefeated in her 4 starts this year, and has reached the winner’s circle in 6 of her 10 career outs. The $63,113 prize from this event pushed her earnings into 6 digits at $106,833. Most of that success came after a mishap for the filly in the trials for the Firecracker Derby when a horse to her right false broke, and Cartels Fortune smashed through her starting gate and suffered a nose injury.

“I took her back home … sat there and waited and waited until I got to Evangeline to start her again,” trainer Kenneth Roberts Sr. recalled. Cartels Fortune returned from the nearly 5 month layoff to close the year with 3 consecutive victories including this derby win. In her 2nd career stakes event, Cartels Fortune broke on top from the 5-gate and made a strong & steady run up the middle of the track, dueling Im Carvin Waves for the win. Both hit the wire close enough to require a photo finish, which revealed Cartels Fortune by a nose.

What’s it like for a trainer awaiting the ruling of a photo finish, especially in a race with a six-digit purse? “It’s stressful, but we had confidence in her,” Roberts said, adding that Im Carvin Waves “ran a big race. But when you get all 10 horses in the finals, anything can happen. Anything. They all had to do something to get there. We were just fortunate the outcome was us in a close race.”

Patrick Watson was up as Cartels Fortune completed the trip in :19.613. The filly, who was 2nd in the ‘13 De Saix Stakes, is the 1st stakes winner out of 5-time stakes winner Jewels Fortune, dam of 4 winners. Jerry West home-bred Jewels Fortune and Cartels Fortune, who will take a layoff before the Challenge races.

G. R. Carter was doing what he does best, leaving the gates like a part of the horses skin. The jockey left the 2-post in 2nd aboard Dashn Brown Streak in the 350-yard $25,300 Sam’s Town Stakes at Evangeline Downs on Dec. 20. With athletic ability very few have, and with a knowledge of race horses that has been studied and learned and applied, G. R. let his mount gather himself, twirled his stick and, with some polite encouragement, emphasized the urgency of the situation.

The 4-year-old gelding responded, had the lead by the top of the stretch, dueled to the wire & finished a neck in front in :17.235 for a New Track Record, earning a career high 107 speed index & eclipsing the previous time of :17.278 set by Zoobilee in 2010. The victory is his 1st in stakes company and gives him 9 wins out of 16 starts, including the last 3 in a row. The $15,000 winner’s share takes his earnings to $248,084, which includes several 2nd & 3rd-place stakes finishes.

Keepn It Kool was a prompt odds-on favorite in the $30,000 IP 870 Stakes at Evangeline Downs on Dec. 20.

Ridden by John Hamilton, Keepn It Kool was second from the 5-hole. He went three-wide through the turn and was in second at the top of the stretch. He completed his 870-yard trip in :46.308 while defeating 24-1 longshot Slinky Red by a neck.

Campaigned exclusively in Louisiana, Keepn It Kool has banked $187,388 from 32 starts, and his nine wins include a 1 3/4-length victory as the 2-1 choice in th’e 870-yard $35,000 Races and Aces Stakes at Evangeline on Nov. 22. The gelding has also run second in the last two runnings of the 870-yard Fauxborg St. John Stakes at Fair Grounds.

Keepn It Kool was bred by Dr. Natalie Montgomery of Pineville, Louisiana. The gelding is one of three winners from as many Quarter Horse starters produced by 14-year-old Thoroughbred mare Kool K. J., who won the Louisiana Champions Day Lassie Stakes for state-breds at Fair Grounds Racecourse in ’02.

Louisiana Jambalaya remained perfect at Fair Grounds with his third win from as many starts over the track, taking down top prize in the $100,000 Louisiana Champions Day Juvenile-RG2 on Dec. 13.

With regular rider Lucas Constantin in the irons, Louisiana Jambalaya battled for command soon after the start. The gray colt hung tough through the lane following the early tussle and denied Game by a head at the finish. Louisiana Jambalaya covered the 350 yards in :17.408, and the top two finishers both earned a speed index of 98 in the hotly contested dash.

It was the 2nd stakes win for Louisiana Jambalaya, who previously annexed the Louisiana QHBA Sale Futurity-G1. Never worse than 2nd in 6 lifetime starts, the colt now boasts earnings of $191,175 for owners Roderick and Mykelia Carter and trainer Justin Dehart.

Bred in Louisiana by Mars Racing and Robicheaux Ranch Inc., Louisiana Jambalaya is out of 9-time winner Iwanna Dash. The mare is the dam of 8 winners from 10 starters, including additional stakes winners More Nachos & Heza Gonna Dash, as well as graded stakes-placed Louisiana Panther.

Scooter Prize claimed the 2nd stakes win of her career and 7th win overall with a game victory in the 400-yard $100,000 Louisiana Champions Day Derby-RG3 at Fair Grounds on Dec. 13.

With Raul Ramirez Jr. riding for trainer Martin Trejo, Scooter Prize chased early leaders The Game Cartel and Hesablackmagic away from the gate before rallying strongly through the lane to collar those two rivals to post the win. Scooter Prize scored a nose victory at the wire, stopping the timer in :19.925 for a speed index of 94.

The $45,454 winner’s share of the purse boosted Scooter Prize’s career bankroll to $219,845 for owner Ana Alvidrez. Winner of the Vinton Stakes-RG3 in May, Scooter Prize has emerged victorious in 7 of 22 lifetime starts. In addition to her pair of stakes scores, the sorrel filly is also multiple graded stakes-placed, having finished 3rd in the 2013 Louisiana Champions Day Juvenile-RG2, the LQHBA Lassie Futurity-RG2, and this year’s Delta Downs Louisiana Bred Derby-RG3 and the Mid-City Stakes.

Bred in Louisiana by John K. Leger, Scooter Prize is produced from the winless but stakes-placed mare Royal Baby Scooter.

The winning margin may have been smaller than anticipated, but Dashin Gage justified his 4-5 odds in the Louisiana Champions Day Classic-RG2 with a narrow victory in the 440-yard test at Fair Grounds on Dec. 13.

Ridden by Jose Vega, Dashin Gage jumped to the front at the start, opening a clear early advantage. Under a hand ride approaching the wire, Dashin Gage crossed the finish a measured head in front, stopping the timer in :21.841. The Kenneth Roberts Sr. trainee earned a speed index of 97 in notching his third career stakes score.

Now a winner in 7 of 21 lifetime starts, Dashin Gage boasts earnings of $332,423 for owner Douglas Traylor. Winner of the John Alleman Memorial Stakes-G3 at Delta Downs in April and the 2012 Louisiana QHBA Sale Futurity-RG1 at Evangeline Downs, Dashin Gage has also placed in 5 stakes.

Bred in Louisiana by Margie Loup, Dashin Gage is the initial stakes winner produced from two-time winner Dash Lady Love, who is the dam of four winners from five starters.

It’s not how you start, but rather how you finish that counts. At the start of the $25,000 Mojo’s Stakes at Evangeline Downs on Nov. 29, First Dashin Perry was bumped from both sides. The 4-year-old colt never complained or made excuses, but did what he was bred & trained to do. First Dashin Perry showed class by overcoming adversity at the start & hanging on to win.

Breaking from the 2-post on the lead, Raul Ramirez Jr. let his mount get rolling. Half way down the 300-yard event, the jockey showed First Dashin Perry the right-handed whip, and then the left hand. That was the formula for success. The pair received every call and stopped the clock a head in front with a time of :15.424 for a 96 speed index.

First Dashin Perry now has a record of five wins out of 10 starts, winning his last two in a row including a 300-yard New Track Record at Evangeline Downs. The colt previously won four consecutive races. The $15,000 winner’s share of the Mojo’s Stakes takes First Dashin Perry’s bankroll to $65,172.

Owned by Jorge Meraz and trained by Frank Cavazos, First Dashin Perry was bred by Jorge Meraz in Louisiana. The colt’s dam, First Dashin Bye, owns a 109 speed index and won 9 of 12 starts including 5 stakes. She has produced 100% ROM earners, 4 winners & 2 blacktype earners from 5 starters. First Dashin Perry is her 1st stakes winner & top earner.

Dashacrossyourmind has been a busy juvenile for owners Brock Broussard and Jacque Bourque. The bay colt broke his maiden in May at Delta Downs in his second lifetime start, and he became a stakes winner in his 10th outing of the year, taking down top prize in the LQHBA Invitational at Evangeline Downs on Nov. 29.

Ridden by Donald Watson, Dashacrossyourmind broke sharply and dueled for the early lead with Oak Trees Memory. After putting that rival away, Dashacrossyourmind fended off a late challenge from race favorite Heza Louisiana Dash to prevail by a neck at the finish. Dashacrossyourmind stopped the timer in :19.774 for 400 yards and earned a speed index of 95.

Trained by Kevin Broussard, Dashacrossyourmind now has 2 wins from 10 starts and has earned $16,427.

Bred in Louisiana by T. Rogers and T.G. Fontenot MD, Dashacrossyourmind is the first stakes winner out of winner Doievercrossyourmind. Dashacrossyourmind is a half-brother to two-time winner Jessyoudo.